BILLY McKinlay and Jason Wilcox have not yet been ruled out of Blackburn Rovers' Premiership clash with Crystal Palace on Saturday.

Manager Roy Hodgson will be going 'home' to Croydon and Selhurst Park where he began his football career with Palace.

And there is still a decent chance that both McKinlay and Wilcox could be involved, despite fears that the midfield man in particular might be facing a lengthy lay-off.

McKinlay had to be substituted before half time in Monday's win over Sheffield Wednesday with a groin injury and the first indications were that he had pulled a muscle.

But it had settled down yesterday and, if there is a continuing significant improvement, McKinlay could yet be fit to take on Palace.

Wilcox, meanwhile, went to hospital yesterday for precautionary x-rays on his ribs and they have cleared him of any major problem.

The winger was clearly in discomfort on Monday, after taking a couple of knocks. He too was substituted and, while his ribs are still very sore, Wilcox should also be in with a chance as Rovers attempt to maintain their unbeaten start.

As well as preparing for the Palace game, Hodgson is also searching for a replacement keeper following the injury to John Filan. They have been linked with St Johnstone's young left back Callum Davidson but a keeper is the priority. Tim Flowers admitted on Monday he was only 60-70 per cent fit after recovering from groin surgery during the pre-season build-up.

But the England keeper is expected to return to the team on Saturday, unless there are any dramatic developments before then.

There was a lot of encouragement for the manager from last night's reserve game at Derby and not just from young guns such as Damien Johnson and James Thomas, who scored Rovers' goals in the 3-1 win

Anders Andersson played a major part in creating two of the side's goals and he is clearly eager to impress with the possibility of first team opportunities cropping up.

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